Artist: Myron Waldman
Title: Flexing for Betty
Year created: 2000
Medium: Hand-painted Animation Cel
Edition: AP 37/50 Artist's Proof
Height (inches): 24
Width (inches): 20
Signed by the artist
Signed Area: front
This piece is framed.
Includes a certificate of authenticity.
Description of piece:
This hand-painted animation cel, Flexing for Betty, a very rare collectible Popeye and Betty Boop animation cel, is numbered and hand-signed by animation industry icon Myron Waldman. With its four-color lithographic background, hand-painted cel image overlay, and bright color palette, the piece is one of only 50 Artist Proofs which were created for the Limited Edition cel.
An iconic Betty Boop, wearing her quintessential red dress with heart-adorned garter, feels Popeye's flexed muscle, which he is showing off to impress Betty moments after eating spinach. Pudgy the dog, Betty Boop's faithful puppy companion, completes the scene.
Myron Waldman, head animator at Fleischer Studio in the 1930s during the Golden Age of Animation, and later at Paramount's Famous Studios, is renowned for working on some of the best Popeye and Betty Boop cartoons.
Myron Waldman has personally hand-signed the artwork, "MYRON WALDMAN", in a clear, bold signature in black paint pen. The artwork bears the edition number AP 37/50 in the lower left, directly adjacent to the King Features Syndicate / Fleischer Studios Betty Boop logo insignia. There is a second logo insignia, lower right, from King Features Syndicate Limited Edition, indicating the production date of 2000.
The cel comes framed in a substantial golden frame, with a double mat in white and gold. Framed size measures 20" in height x 24" width.
James Spence Authentication (JSA) has examined Mr. Waldman's signature and determined it to be authentic, assigning to it a unique alphanumeric certification number which corresponds to the full Letter of Authenticity from JSA which accompanies the work.
A second, original COA from Toon Art also accompanies the framed animation cel.
Artist bio:
Myron Waldman (1908 – 2006) was an animator whose illustrious career in animation spanned well over 50 years and includes over 170 credits as director of animation and animator.
Born in Brooklyn, Mr. Waldman attended the Pratt Institute and was first hired as an inker and fill-in artist by the Fleischer Studios in 1930. The studio, located at 1600 Broadway in Times Square and operated by the brothers Max and Dave Fleischer, was America's pre-eminent animation workshop. Waldman went on to become a principle animator at Fleischer.
Few are untouched by his diverse work and animation accomplishments. Best known for his work at Fleischer Studio, his credits include Betty Boop, Popeye (Olive Oyl & Bluto), Casper the Friendly Ghost, Raggedy Ann & Raggedy Andy, Baby Huey, Gulliver's Travels, and the animated adaptations of Superman. He also created one of the first graphic novels, the wordless novel Eve: A Pictorial Love Story.
In 1986 Waldman received the Motion Picture Screen Cartoonists Award, and in 1997 was given the Winsor McCay Award for his lifetime work in the field of animation. In the 1990's Myron Waldman was honored with retrospectives at the Museum of Modern Art, the American Museum of the Moving Image and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.